Leaf goalies James Reimer and Jonathan Bernier gave every indication of that at Friday’s practice when they donned the equipment they will wear when the Leafs and Wings hook up on New Year’s Day for the outdoor Winter Classic in Ann Arbor, Mich.

“Just old school. It’s just that feeling from when I was a kid, playing outside with those brown pads. That’s the idea,” Bernier said after practice.

Reimer’s mask painter, Dave Gunnarsson of Daveart in Sweden, shipped in a new mask as well — much the same as his regular one, but with the Winter Classic logo on the chin.

“From far away it looks simple, old school — it matches the lines on my jersey and pads — but if you look a little closer you’ll see the same “Optimus Reims” stuff painted on there, the Transformers robots and things like I have on my regular mask,” Reimer said.

Bernier has been dealing with an injury, believed to be a sore knee from his collision with Pittsburgh’s Jayson Megna in Monday’s game. He returned to practice Friday after not skating for two days.

“I feel much better today, but we’ll see (Saturday) if I play,” Bernier said about his availability against the Red Wings. “We’ll see how I feel in the morning skate. When I came out of the net, I think that’s when it happened. I didn’t feel it then, but the next day it hurt. I’m pretty confident I can play (Saturday), but we’ll see.”

Saturday’s Winter Classic preview pits two teams battling for points under intense pressure off the ice, HBO’s 24/7 cameras following them closely.

“I think it’s unusual,” Carlyle said of the demands. “It’s not normal what we’re living through right now. I’ve talked about it before, the whole White Noise thing, and this is another one for us. We have a job to do and (HBO) are pros. They try to make it as easy as possible. But it’s not easy having a team meeting with a camera and microphone there. They respect privacy when you ask for it, but it’s not easy.”

Carlyle, as expected, declined to announce his starting goalie for the Classic, but praised both Reimer and Bernier.

“When you look at it, our goalies, they provide leadership by example and lead our club that way,” Carlyle said. “They are both having career years and that’s a tremendous thing to say in terms of leadership.”

While both goalies are eager to start before a crowd of more than 100,000 at the Big House in Ann Arbor, Mich., they remain focused on the bigger picture.

“Sure you want that start,” Bernier said. “It’s going to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but you also want the two points and that’s what we push each other for is the wins.”

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